Banking battle

Thursday, June 3, 2004

By RICHARD NEWMAN
STAFF WRITER

FAIR LAWN - Commerce Bank, the aggressive chain from Cherry Hill, is making inroads here, and that's making the town's longtime banking leader nervous.

Columbia Bank has deep roots in the town where it has six offices, including its showcase headquarters on Route 208, draped with an eye-catching banner that says "We Support our Troops." Columbia holds about 60 percent of Fair Lawn's insured deposits, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. figures, a dominance that is unusual in a state where bank competition is fierce.

But Commerce, known for shaking up the notion of "bankers' hours" by keeping its lobbies open in the evenings and on Sundays, aims to chisel away at that dominance.

About a year and a half ago Commerce opened its first branch in Fair Lawn. On Saturday it will open another branch at the intersection of Elm and Maple avenues. A third is expected to open later this year on River Road.

"They are tough competition," said Ray Hallock, president of Columbia Bank, which opened a temporary branch on Tuesday in the Radburn section, replacing one that burned down in 2002. "We respect competition. We welcome it, as a matter of fact."

Columbia, which has only 36 branches - all in New Jersey - presents itself as a traditional community bank.

Hallock boasts that the bank is mutually owned by account holders and is not beholden to shareholders.

"We serve just three masters - our customers, our employees, and our local communities,'' he said.

Commerce, on the other hand, has been a darling of Wall Street as it has expanded from South Jersey throughout the state into New York and Pennsylvania and Delaware. Just Wednesday, shares rose more than 4 percent as the bank affirmed its forecast for growth.

CEO Vernon Hill said Commerce, which has prospered by luring deposits from suburbanites with its long hours and trendy branches, is on track to open 50 branches this year throughout its four-state territory after opening 45 last year.

The bank sees Fair Lawn as fertile ground for home equity lending and deposit gathering.

According to the 2000 U.S. census, the median household income in Fair Lawn is $72,000 - well above the national median of $42,000 - and four of five residents live in owner-occupied homes.

"Like every town in Bergen, the market is good" Hill said Wednesday.

"The demographics are good. We happened to find three good sites.''

Hallock sued the town recently to try to block Commerce's approval to build on River Road. Hallock persuaded a judge to invalidate a variance. Commerce ultimately prevailed as the town rezoned the parcel, making the variance a moot point.

"We felt there was no reason under the law to grant a use variance," Hallock said, adding that he has no hard feelings.

"The mayor and the council did what they felt was in the best interest of the town.''

And Commerce is not the only new competition in town, Hallock points out.

North Fork Bancorp from Long Island has taken over The Trust Company Bank in the town's Radburn section.

Wachovia, the former First Union, also has a branch at the same intersection. Valley National also has a strong presence in town.

Commerce's planned River Road branch, which will be a block away from a Columbia branch, will open before the end of the year, Hill said.

Hill laughed when told about a flier posted on the door of Columbia's River Road branch, announcing that branch's new, longer Saturday lobby hours|and drive-through hours on Sunday.

"They are reacting,'' he said.

E-mail: newman@northjersey.com